casey.ricci.taco: Months 4 & 5

I'm ridiculously behind on updating the blog. This update will be quick but should get everyone up to speed. Isaac is now just over five months old and he's an entirely different baby almost every week. First of all, he's a big guy. He was a little over 16lbs at his four month check up and is about 19 or 20 lbs now. He rolls over (from his back to his stomach constantly but only a couple times from his stomach to his back--he mostly just whines and waits for you to flip him when he's ready to be on his back again). When I'm trying to get him to go to sleep and he's not quite ready, he enjoys taking the pacifier out of his mouth, examining it at great length and then attempting, in slow motion and usually unsuccessfully, to put it back in his mouth. He also really sweetly (though sometimes he's a little grabby) touches our faces when we hold him, and he often grabs us around the neck now when we pick him up. He's also honing his reaching and grabbing skills in general, and if he can get his hands on it he puts it in his mouth. Overall, he's more aware of what hew wants and how he wants it to happen, and he enjoys letting us now with little shouts and the occasional screech. His favorite song is Little Bunny Foo Foo, his favorite book is Moo Ba La La La, and he very much enjoys chewing on his toes.

He's been through a lot of travel and one big change in the last two months as well. In August, we moved to a new apartment. While it's smaller than our old basement apartment, the new place is part of a complex of married student housing on the campus Ricci attends. There are lots of kids around and great outdoor space both in front of and behind our little townhouse. We have an actual entrance with sidewalk rather than an unpaved grassy hill and there are lots more people to see and talk to. Grandma Anne and Grandpa Gene (once again) came to help with the move. We totally couldn't have done it without them.

Just after we moved to the new apartment, we threw another wild card his way and flew to Arizona to visit Ricci's family. We had a great time and Isaac loves his Grandma Jenny. His Aunt Kristi also drove down from Phoenix to spend the weekend with us. One of the best parts of being there was the way Isaac's little face lit up every time his Aunt Vanessa came into the room. He followed her with his eyes constantly and gave her a big grin when she looked at him. I'll get some Arizona photos up soon.

Ricci headed out to his first clinical year rotation on August 16th. This rotation is in a pediatrics clinic in Southern Utah, so when he left for Utah, Isaac and I headed to Nebraska to spend the six weeks Ricci will be away with Grandma Anne and Grandpa Gene. I'll update lots more on Nebraska in future posts. So far the rotation seems to be going well for Ricci, and Isaac is enjoying having his Grandma and Grandpa around to do whatever he tells them to.

Below are some photographic highlights of the last 8 weeks in the life of Isaac James Soto. As always, he's a total rock star and we love, love, love having him around.